Paternity
by klutzysunshine
Summary: Miles has his suspicions about Charlie's paternity.


**I don't own Revolution and never will. No copyright infringement intended.**

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Miles had been pushing down his suspicions about Charlie's paternity for a long time now, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could do so. The signs stared him in the face every day and now he could no longer ignore them. "You look lost in thought," Bass observed.

"Leave it alone, Bass." Miles truly didn't want to get into it. How exactly could he ask Rachel? She'd probably come right out and deny it. Plus, he was probably wrong. But how long had he been trying to convince himself that he was wrong?

"Now I'm interested. Tell me." Bass waited expectantly – he figured it wouldn't take long for his best friend to break and spill. He looked forward to hearing whatever this was.

He sighed and watched as the fire crackled. He was glad everyone else had finally gone to bed so they weren't around to hear this. "I think Charlie is my daughter."

"Of course she is you idiot." And then Bass started laughing.

Miles glared at him. "What the hell? You suspected too?" He didn't know why that surprised him. He wasn't shocked that Bass hadn't said anything either – this was something that probably should have come up sooner.

"Of course I suspected. That girl is a miniature you, and it's absolutely terrifying. Charlie's going places, and I can't wait to see what she does next." She actually terrified Bass sometimes, but he was mostly in awe of her. She'd make a great player in the new Monroe Republic (provided she wanted to be in it, of course, and he didn't believe that'd happen).

"Should I ask Rachel to find out for sure?" As crazy as Bass was sometimes, at least he could be helpful. Miles was honestly at a loss about what to do.

"Yes. Even though I don't think you need to." Bass rolled his eyes again, wondering how his best friend could be this stupid. How had it taken this long Miles to finally say something? This was something that should have been brought up after Rachel announced she was pregnant for the first time, not twenty years later.

"So should I confront her now?" Miles couldn't take waiting anymore. But he worried about the answer he would get. He'd be a shitty father and he knew it, especially since he was already a shitty uncle. He still didn't understand why Charlie seemed to worship the ground he walked on.

Bass shook his head. "Wait until later when no one's around. Do you really want anyone to eavesdrop?" He meant Charlie. She'd probably kick someone's ass if she overheard Miles and Rachel's conversation.

"You're a great help. Thanks," he replied sarcastically.

Bass chuckled. "You're welcome," he replied seriously, not caring at all that Miles hadn't been serious. He hoped his best friend wasn't a chicken about this and would actually talk to Rachel. Those two clearly needed to clear the air.

About ten minutes later, Miles left the fire and joined Rachel. He had a hard time sleeping and tossed and turned all night, worried about the answer he was going to get from his girlfriend. What if she lied to him? What if she was truthful? There were so many questions involved in this and he didn't know where to start. He already loved Charlie, but could he be a father to her? Miles didn't think he'd be a great one, and besides, Ben had been a pretty good father to both kids. "Stop thinking and go to bed," Rachel whined at one point.

"Sorry, Rach." He tried his best to shut off his mind, but it wasn't working. He eventually fell asleep, but was woken up by a gleeful Bass only a few hours later.

"We gotta move," he explained, unable to stop smiling. He was excited to find out for sure if he was the only one who had a secret kid. He was going to try and eavesdrop on Miles and Rachel's conversation later, whenever that happened.

"I hate you," Miles groaned, annoyed that Bass had woken him up on purpose.

"Right back at you!" Bass took off to go find Connor, but it was futile to leave Miles and Rachel alone. They kept getting interrupted by others and couldn't find time to talk. Miles was secretly relieved about that and kept putting off the conversation for as long as possible. He was surprised to find out he was afraid of the answer. He was hardly ever afraid of anything.

"Miles, are you okay?" Rachel finally asked that afternoon. He had been acting weird all day and she didn't understand why.

He scoffed. "Of course I'm okay." He didn't think she bought it, but he could at least try.

She stared at him, confused. "Okay then." She walked away to go talk to her father and left her panicking boyfriend behind to do something else.

Miles sweated it out for the rest of the day, trying and failing to come up with the words to ask Rachel. Would they tell Charlie if she truly was his daughter? He didn't want his niece (fuck, possibly his daughter) to hate him, and that was definitely possible, especially with her new attitude. But he couldn't know until he asked. He tried to pump himself up. "You can do this, Miles. Don't be an idiot," he whispered to himself.

Fortunately for him, Miles and Rachel weren't left alone until after dark. Gene had gone off somewhere with Bass, Connor, and Charlie (something he wasn't pleased about) and so the two of them were now by themselves. "Okay, Miles. I've had enough of this. Tell me what's wrong now," Rachel demanded.

And now he could no longer stall. "I want an honest answer from you."

"Okay. An honest answer about what?" the puzzled Rachel asked. She had no clue where he was going with this.

And then the words that would possibly change their relationship forever. He sighed. "Is Charlie my daughter?"

He wanted her to be honest with him, so Rachel was. "Yes she is."

And that's when Miles' whole world proceeded to collapse on itself. Shocked, his knees gave up and he slid to the ground.

Everything had just changed.


End file.
